Ready for some upgrades

So for the last couple of months I have been search this site to get ideas for possible mods/upgrades that I want to do to my 03' Tacoma. I have owned several Toyota trucks for the last twenty years and have never put much into them. Usually I just lift them up and put some 285s or 305s on them and call it done. However now I want to do a little more.

Anyways just wanted to say hello, and don't be surprised if you see me asking questions that have already been asked several times over. I will do my best to search, but as you all know we could spend hours on here researching and reading.

3-27-2013 let the fun begin

 

Welcome! Can't wait to see what is done to it!

 

Welcome to TW

Awesome looking truck already man!

 

Blacked out DC. Looking good.

 

Welcome, looks like your off to a great start.

 

Welcome to TW

 

Well looks like my build is going to take shape a little sooner than I anticipated. this is what i woke up to Tuesday morning:

I've got to say this is not the prettiest sight to wake up to in the morning before work.

Total Damage:
All exterior panels keyed
All four tires slashed
Stereo Stolen
Center A/C panel destroyed
Headliner cut to shreds
All four seats cut up
All four window tint scratched
All for door panels cut up

 

The police think my truck got mistaken for a teenagers truck that looks similar in town. You figure when they broke in and saw baby wipes they would of stopped.
Well after an hour with the police I called my insurance company. you got to hand it to that green lizard, he is outstanding. Within an hour my truck was towed to a preferred body shop, the adjuster was there to meet me, and my rental car was ready waiting for me. Unfortunately, the amount of damage that was done by those little bastards he wanted to total my truck. Thankfully i was able to talk him out of it. He cut me a check for all of the damage, minus the tires.

 

Now its time to get creative with the money I got. obviously the first thing i had to do was get tires. I was able to get a steal on a set of Toyo Open Countries 285/75R16:


Not to bad.
Now I've got to wait a week or so for the truck to be painted. I had to move it from the first body shop because they were extremely expensive and wanted to nickle and dime me. I found a shop in town that does full paint jobs/restores. I was also able to talk them into a spray on bedliner for little charge.
Now its time to figure out how to fix everything else??????

 

What the hell did you do to someone?

Matt

 

Holy crap they destroyed it. Sorry it must have sucked walking out to that. Any idea who did it. Seems personal cause most asshole thieves just smash and grab they dont take the time to do the keying and slashin of the tires and interior

 

Maybe a few years ago I might have made some enemies, but being 35yrs, spending the last six months away for work and just having a baby didn't leave much time to piss people off.

 

WOW i would kill someone who did that to my truck, glad you got if fixed keep the mods coming and welcome to TW

 

Its not 100% back on the road yet, but when it is i will post some pic.
I was able to budget in some DeMello Offroad front plate bumper, sliders, and rear bumper. I've got to say thank you to them, they really hooked me up.

 

I looked into replacing all the seats but that was going to put me at the end of my budget. You wouldn't think junk yards would be so pricey. So i went with the next best thing. Wet Okole seat covers, looks like a lot of members like them on here, and since the seats were only cut, it will cover them up nicely.

 

So here is how it looks today. I am still waiting for my rear bumper, front plate bumper, and rock sliders.

New Toyo Open Country 285/75/16



New Smoked Headlight and Mesh Grill



New Smoked Brake Lights



Blacked Out Third Brake Light



New Kenwood DDX470



New Wet Okole Seat Covers





Fresh Paint

 

Looks good man, glad you see you back up and running. I have those same okoles, they're great!

 

I know I love them. They look good and are very comfortable. I also had Wet Okole send me some extra material, so I could do my door panel inserts. I was surprised at how easy it was to do. I am thinking about doing my headliner next.



My next project is my suspension upgrade. It seems like most of the members on here run Bilestien, King, ICON, or OME setup. All of them seem to have their pros and cons based on application. I know this might sound silly, but I am leaning towards Bilestien, ICON or King just because of the color. My truck is going to be completely blacked out, and OMEs yellow will just stick out to much IMO.

After that will be headers and exhaust. I'm still trying to decided. it really sucks that there is no way of hearing how they will sound on your truck before you buy them. So far it seems everyone on here perfers Magnaflow to Flowmax. I also hear that Borla are pretty good as well.

I should have my armor from Demello in a week and will post ne pics once installed.

 

is there a way to just pop those door panels off an recover them? Mine need to be recovered. What was your process?

 

Surprisingly it was a lot easier than I thought. I should have taken some pictures as I went. The door panels are pretty easy to remove.

I found this link which can explain better than I can. http://www.customtacos.com/tech/index.php?article=143


My only recommendation would be to pick up some extra plastic clips that hold the panel to the door. I broke a few when I removed mine but they are cheap and easy to replace.

Tools and Material:
#2 Philip Screwdriver
Flathead Screwdriver
Scissors
Utility Knife/razor
Putty Knife
100 Grit Sand paper
Alcohol
Fabric
Super Glue
Spray Adhesive



1. Once you have the door panel removed you will have to unscrew the door handle from the back of the panel. Once the handle is removed you will have access to remove the fabric.

2. I used a small flat tip screw driver and inserted it in the groove at the edge of the fabric. I pulled the excess fabric out of the groove, and then slowly pulled it away from the panel. All mine pulled off very easy and didn't tear at all. Once removed sit the old fabric aside, because you will need to use it as a template when you cut your new material.

3. After you have removed the fabric, you will notice that the old foam and glue residue stayed on the panel. you will need to remove all of this for preparation for the new fabric. On my first door panel I took my time. I used a small putty knife to remove all of the foam, and then I used 100 grit sand paper (by hand) to remove the glue residue. After it was all sanded down I vacuumed the panel, and cleaned the insert area with alcohol.

Note: The neoprene fabric that our seat panels (Wet Okole) are made out of, is the perfect material to use. It has just the right thickness, stretches, and cuts easy.

4. Now take your old material that you removed from the panel, and lay it on your new fabric. Flatten it out as much as possible and pin in place at the edge. Now start cutting. Do not cut out the door handle hole yet.

5. Now that you have your new piece of material cut, you are ready to install. Lay your material over the insert. You will notice that it will over lap the groove by about 1/4". You will want to start at the area of the insert where there is no groove. I used super glue to adhere the fabric to the panel in this area. Allow five minutes to set

6. Once the super glue is set, you are ready to continue. I worked my way slowly around (left, right, and center). You will want to use a good spray adhesive (3M or Lock-tight). Spray a little on the right side and flatten the fabric to conform to the panel. Now take a flat tip screw driver and push the fabric into the groove. you should be able to push all of the excess material into the groove. Now do the same thing to the left side. Continue alternating right and left until you have made it all the way around. Note: Make sure you have good glue adhesion around the door handle cut out.

7. Allow the panel to sit for about ten minutes and the glue to set up. Now use a utility knife or a razor to cut out the door handle hole.

Your door panel is now complete and ready to be reinstalled. On the other three panels I felt comfortable enough to use an orbital sander, which made the project go a lot quicker. It took me about three hours to do all four doors.